A TMNT Drabble for Every Occasion
by sweatercladpumpkin
Summary: A collection of stories 1000 words or less. Chapter 2: 'Unfair Future' - Late-night conversations typically tend to become deep and slightly depressing.
1. To Protect

Set in 2003 verse. Enjoy!

 **EDIT:** Sorry about the formatting issues. It should be all fixed now :)

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He hesitated at the closed door of his older brother's bedroom. Michelangelo knew he was getting too old for this. He was sixteen-years-old for Pete's sake. He couldn't just run to the safety of his brother's (or fathers) arms after every nightmare, like he had done when he was only a little turtle tot.

However, tonight's was more graphic than usual, and the image of the unseeing, lifeless eyes of his older brother could not be shaken from his mind. As a result, Mikey found himself here, both out of necessity to check on his brother's safety and hoping that maybe he could bunk with him for the night, lest he be alone with his overactive imagination.

Strengthening his resolve, Mikey pushed open the door and walked into the room. The sounds of Raphael's snores reached his ears, instantly relieving his worries.

Now that he was sure that his brother was alright, Mikey wondered whether or not it was worth waking his brother up. Given that it was Raph, Mikey was sure that he would be less than pleased at being woken up in the middle of the night because of a stupid nightmare. Maybe he could just sneak out now and head back to his room and try to get a few more hours sleep despite the possibility of the nightmare coming back.

As Mikey pondered over staying or leaving, he didn't notice the room had gone quiet. He was startled by the sounds of his brother stirring. Normally Raph was a pretty sound sleeper and no amount of noise woke him once he was deeply asleep. However, someone's presence usually alerted him awake. It was mainly a ninja thing seeing as all of them did it to some degree. Leonardo's and Splinter's senses were the most sensitive but Mikey reasoned that down to the fact that Splinter was a super ninja (and being a rat, had more sensitive hearing) and that Leo was just Leo.

"What? Who….Mike? Man what time is it?"

Silence once again fell on the room as Raph propped himself on his elbow to blearily look at the red glow of his bedside clock.

"The hell Mike it's like three in the morning." Raph groaned sleepily, falling back with a thud onto his back.

Michelangelo wrung his hands together, "Sorry bro, I just uh…"

"What? Mikey what happened?" Raph ground out, tiredly. He still hadn't moved from his position on the bed, however his body language indicated that he was more alert than when he first woke.

"Just a bad dream bro, nothing major, just thought I would…?"

"Would what, Mike?"

"Uh you know what it was just a stupid dream." Mikey turned to leave the room, "I'll just go back to bed so I'll see you in the morning."

"Mikey cut the crap and tell me what happened!" Raphael had propped himself onto his elbow as he stared down his youngest brother, "I can tell that whatever was in this dream of yours was bad enough for you to come here and if that's no clue for why you're here then your shaking is definitely giving it away." Raph said nodding his head at Mikey's hands.

Mikey looked to his hands and noticed that they were shaking, just as Raph had said. Sighing deeply in resignation he made his way to lay next to Raph on the bed.

Raph shuffled over to make space and they both lay shoulder to shoulder for a long minute as Raph allowed Mikey to get a hold of his thoughts. Mikey had been prone to nightmares since they were very little and would often have a hard time afterwards trying to get his thoughts straight in order to explain them. Raph knew this and waited.

"There was so much blood." Mikey began. "We were fighting the foot. I was down. My chucks were across the roof from me so I couldn't reach them. The foot elite showed up, one was heading straight for me. I tried to get to my chucks…I tried so hard but I couldn't move. H-he was still heading for me. I looked for you guys but I looked over and Leo and Donnie were down… I think they were alive. I-I'm not sure. And then you were suddenly in front of me and then there was blood and you…you collapsed right in front of me. I turned you over and…"

"And what, Mikey?" Raph asked softly, though he already knew what was coming next.

"And you were dead." Mikey whispered brokenly. "You were looking straight through me and you weren't responding cause you were dead. You died to protect me."

A small sob escaped from the youngest turtle and Raphael gathered his little brother in his arms. Raph knew that there was no way to truly comfort Mikey. Being brought up learning the ways of Ninjitsu and leading lives as vigilantes in New York meant that there was a real possibility of the events of Mikey's dreams coming true. The near misses that they had in the past re-enforced this fact. The reality was that they all knew the risks. They all knew that one day, one or more members of their small unique family may not make it home.

Raph held onto Mikey long after he stopped crying, and his little brothers breathing became soft and even. As sleep once again came to claim him, he repositioned himself to wrap his arm over his sleeping brother's torso, hoping that the weight was enough to protect his younger brother from his own fears.


	2. Unfair Future

It was during those long cold nights of mid-winter when patrols were cut short on Splinter's orders, that Leonardo and Raphael often be found sparring in the dojo until the early hours of the morning. When physical exhaustion finally set in and they were too tired to make their way upstairs to their beds, they would sit shell-to-shell talking about everything and anything.

Including the injustices that faced their family's' future.

More specifically: their younger brothers' futures.

Leonardo aspired and was well on his way to becoming a ninjitsu master. From recent events such as the Battle Nexus as well as the fiasco with the Tengu Shredder and working alongside the Ninja Tribunal themselves, he had come to the realisation that being a mutant would not be a hindrance.

Raphael's love was the city. He would protect New York with his life, and most likely would be defending the innocents of the city from street thugs, evil ninja clans and interdimensional overlords til the end of his days; with or without his brothers or a certain hockey-masked vigilante by his side.

Their brothers, however. Well…

Michelangelo could easily have followed the same path that Leonardo himself was destined to take. While Leo showed the most diligence in his Ninjitsu training, Michelangelo displayed raw talent in the art. However, his family knew that he showed no interest in pursuing it as his eldest brother did.

It was no secret that Mikey's passion was anything superheroes. A passion that had started when they were all very little, after Splinter had brought back a much worn 'Justice Force' comic. The pages were ripped, there was water damage and the words had faded to the point that they were barely readable, but Mikey treasured it. While Mikey loved it for the story and the bright action-driven narrative (in picture form no less) when he first got it, and the parallels between the origins of his favourite comic book superheroes and his own unique life brought him hope.

Because, even as they gained many friends over the years since their first fateful trip to the surface, it was evident to all those around him that Michelangelo still wanted to be accepted by the world above.

The most tragic out of the four of them seemed to be their purple-clad brother. Donatello had a scientific mind that rivalled some of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. Even from a young age, they all knew that Donnie's intelligence was something to treasure. Evident when he had managed to re-route electricity into their little alcove home at the age of seven (along with the assistance of Master Splinter, because Don was still just a little too short to reach the circuit breaker).

While he seemed to be content with his sub-terrain life, creating gadgets for his and his family's use; Leo and Raph often wondered if Donatello craved further knowledge. He could have easily gotten into any college he wanted to, the fact that he was a 5'2" anthropomorphic, bipedal, talking turtle was the only limitation.

Leonardo and Raphael disagreed on a lot of things. They were too much the same, but thought too different. Two sides of the same coin, Splinter would often tell them as children.

However, there was one thing that they both absolutely agreed on.

Life truly was unfair.


End file.
